Stop the War in Ukraine

PRESS RELEASE

Stop the War in Ukraine

For Immediate Release: 

Contacts: Cole Harrison, cole@masspeaceaction.org, 617-466-9274 & Louise Coleman, 617-817-6706

When: Sunday, March 6th, 2022 at 1pm EST

Where: Park Street Station in Boston, MA

Stop the War in Ukraine. Russian Troops Out. No to NATO expansion.

A coalition of organizations in Massachusetts, including Massachusetts Peace Action, Western MA CODEPINK, and Veterans for Peace, are coming together on Sunday, March 6th at 1:00 pm EST to hold a rally in Boston at Park Street Station for Peace between the United States and Russia. This is part of a global day of action to stop the war in Ukraine, organized by CODEPINK, Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and the No To NATO network. Activists will gather to call for diplomacy, dialogue, and peace with Russia over Ukraine.

“The intensified conflict over Ukraine has led to the possibility of a confrontation between the world’s two most heavily armed nuclear powers,” said Cole Harrison, Executive Director of Massachusetts Peace Action. “As a nation, we have become very close to a nuclear catastrophe before, most famously during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Our luck cannot hold out forever. We must work to resolve this crisis quickly, through diplomacy and negotiation.”

The war in Ukraine is a disaster for the people of Ukraine and a terrible threat to us all. Activists are gathering to call for the immediate withdrawal of all Russian troops, termination of sanctions that harm ordinary Russians, and an end to NATO expansion. The expansion of NATO and the aggressive approach of Western states led to this crisis and should it progress to an armed conflict between US/NATO and Russian forces, it could escalate quickly to nuclear war.

Currently, the Biden administration is asking Congress for $6.4 billion in funding to assist Ukraine. Sending more US weapons to Ukraine and more troops to Europe will only escalate the crisis. Instead, there must be an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and a return to diplomatic negotiations.

“The US has just left a 20-year war in Afghanistan, so why are we about to embark on another war at the cost of civilian lives, U.S lives, and billions of dollars?” said Brian Garvey, Assistant Director of Massachusetts Peace Action. “The US should learn from their mistakes from their fruitless interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan. Instead, the US should focus on using taxpayers’ dollars on domestic matters such as health care, housing, environmental protection, education, civilian manufacturing jobs, and programs that address the 140 million poor and low-income people in our country.”

This crisis needs urgent, national action. On Sunday, activists will gather in cities and towns across the country in coordination, all calling for peace, diplomacy, and negotiation. For more information about the Boston rally, visit the event description here: masspeace.us/ukrainerally